Oz the Great and Powerful

I never promised an AAR! D: No, but all of us who live vicariously through others were hoping! Oh, well...I guess I'll go talk to my wife...

I think, in general, the kids behavior will tend to be self correcting the first time life slaps them down Well, not really. If a kid is completely catered to and shielded from injury and made to feel as if he is the center of the universe, as we so often do, when life slaps them down they cry and complain that it isn't fair and sulk and pout. That's OK when you are 9, not at 19. Jail time. Creating a Public D

what do you meen your arguing about bible quotes Sorry, Anubis. GreenFrog and I have had a running debate, and GreenFrog seems to be disputing my quote of a passage from Chronicles. Not quite the thread you expected?

thats ehat you said this is what it really says We're arguing about Bible quotes? Wow. I think we just found another candidate for this topic of the most dangerous people alive... Stormbringer might be right...

Who really suffers if we do a crappy job of parenting? My daughter first and foremost! My wife and myself second. Society is a distant and barely visible third. Amen, Purge. The day the parenting police come knocking on my door is the day I head to Ruby Ridge with some automatic weapons. Parenting is the toughest job you'll ever have, but you can't contract it out. it seems that people ignore what kids do and that scar

we like to say that deciding these things is up to the parents, but in a society where parents have less and less time to spend with their kids, i think it's a vitally important thing to think about. We have made sacrifices so one of us would always be home. My wife worked nights for five years so she could be home during the day. We felt that was just part of parenting. It is a problem that our society often doesn't value these sacrifices. <div

the CPI isn't a perfect measure of the cost of living, for sure. if i had time (it's taken me hours to compose this response in the middle of my workday), what i'd really like to see would be: -all figures adjusted to the same inflation level -earned income less minimal cost of living (a figure representing disposable income, when positive, or the gap between income and need, when negative) -broken down by SES, age, race, urban/rural, and region.

let him answer for himself thank you. Greenfrog - Your posts are often misspelled and poorly punctuated. As a result they can be difficult to interpret correctly. You haven't adressed they issue you lied you gave a half truth that is not kind and you have the boldness to put the bible's name on it! Does that even phase you at all you lied to every person who has seen your post and you avoid it by picking thin

"it was full of assertions and ‘facts’ that struck me as just plain wrong." Anything in particular? I'm genuinely curious. Me, too. Certainly Crichton isn't arguing that global warming isn't happening, It is clear that it is happening. There is no clear link that we caused it, just as their is no clear proof we can stop it. hehehe, the easter bunny must be

We don't need some postdoctoral thesis to know that. I don't need a bachelor's degree to know that there is an Easter bunny, either.

Sometimes my mind just 'assumes' that maybe it is acceptable for us to help 'guide' people in certain situations Yeah, but that's the thinking that got us into Iraq!

i will take that comment as if you were ignorant Sorry, didn't mean to offend. It is just really important that you say exactly what you mean in this kind of discussion. All that we see about you is what you type - no facial expressions, no body language, nothing but words. Those words need to be really accurate. please do not say such a thing about me I won't. Sorry.

Is this truly 'fine' by you Dystopic? As a parent, it isn't to Dystopic to decide. I should decide if its OK to raise money-hungry kids, and I hope I'm not. But I'm probably not going to be pushing my kids into a high-profile school as a future career move. I can't afford it.

hey hey! i work in higher education! I kind of thought you would disagree - no offense. anyway, part of the problem here is how people think of education in this country. they often conflate it with what i'd rather call vocational training. the root philosophy behind education is NOT career advancement; it was englightenment. I think that is exactly right. College is sold to the kids, and to the parents

Get your facts straightened out. 911 is the worst of all the terrorist attacks, the fatalities in Europe due to terrorist bombings is still dwarfed by that incident.[/quote] That's correct. So we went into Afghanistan after the Taliban and we went into Iraq after Saddam. And, I think, that show of strength and resolve has made them think twice about another attack on US soil. The Europeans appear to have no determination to combat Islamo-Facists. I'm

Yes your parents tell you that till their blue in the face The hardest thing about being a parent is watching your kids make the same mistakes you made. But your parents have probably already told you that. the ones 'cropping up' in my private areas Oh, that's just too much information, as well as a scary mental picture! <img src="http://images.stardock.com/gc2/T_DL/smiles/Crying.gif" border=0 align="a

My story is common for allot of people... be a complete f--k up at school, then grow up and realise your past youthful lifestyle has left you with grades so low that you have to work at Mc donalds That's kind of what I did. It isn't easy.

I hope that I helped to clear up any confusion around the use of economic statistics! Thanks, Ian. I felt that to be true but I couldn't begin to explain why. Great explanation. One of the reasons I like discussing these issues on the GalCiv forum is that you guys are pretty smart.

That's something of a step up from even a hundred years ago. How about electrical connectivity? Air conditioning? Indoor plumbing? Cell phones? My parents didn't own a house. We rented. But we had two cars. My wife's parents always owned. They never had a car until she got her driver's license and bought one. I think we are better off than our parents. I just hope the same is true for my kids. often c

Sadly, it is a faiding dream, the US is going into an isolationist recesion as more of the Democrats and Moderats cry out for social and moral reforms. Frankly these troubled times have made quite a lot of people relise we have been living with the illusion that everything is perfect. One of the problems with the current Iraq debate in America is that, I am afraid, anything we do will drive us to be more isolationist. If we pull out it is very easy to tu

Our money has value for one pure reason. The government says it does Nope. Actually, we agree to pretend it does. Modern "money" has no real value. For an example, look at the German economy after WW1. The government already defines it, maybe not to an extreme, but its definetely there. The government doesn't define medical need, but it does mandate medical care to everyone, even those who can'

This came to me while I was walking the dogs - people with university degrees Mystik, the way you phrase this make me think that you are not in the US. I would say "college degree". Is that true? If so, you may not feel that you have the same oppotunities that I do, because you may be in a country that has more socialistic policies. That is very pertinent to this discussion. I feel that I can be whatever I want, at the risk of complete failure

a lot of the republican politicians (perhaps most) have pretty liberal views on civil liberties, but because it makes so much more sense to run on a party ticket, they can't speak out in favor of issues like this that they happen to agree with. Agreed. If someone has the courage to say what they think instead of what is expected I'll support them in 2008. Otherwise, Obama here I come. i don't think a third party has a

speak for yourself! OK, I will. I went to public grade and high schools. I started flipping burgers in high school. I spent two years at a local state university until I just couldn't do it any more. I am actually 3 courses short of an associate's degree and I haven't been able to force myself back to school. I've been in foodservice my whole life (want fries with that?). I've learned everything I could on the job and worked my way

[quote nothing will turn me into a Republican until the party accepts that gay rights are human rights. [/quote] Believe me, I'm not in complete agreement with everything the party stands for and this is certainly one of those areas. I'm also pro-choice. And if they can't find a viable presidential candidate with some vision I will happily vote for Barak Obama. I'm Republican, not stupid. Yeah, yeah, yeah - you're all reaching out to type that they are the same thing. Funny